LaunchPad CoWorking
An interview with Jerome Chang, founder of Blankspaces:
Spike: You’re also using a for-profit business model (as is LaunchPad Coworking). How did you decide on this model? Did you take any heat for it?
Jerome: I’m all for pushing collaboration and communities — if profit is what it takes to generate more participants and advance the cultural movement, then profit it is. Between the time and effort, money, and liability, we should be rewarded for that contribution and exposure. Besides, I didn’t know about coworking at all until I’d already started construction, so I was not “influenced†by the altruism.
I’m becoming more and more convinced that a Co-Working site needs to be a ‘company’ as opposed to a ‘charity’.
I’ve seen lots of non-profits fall by the wayside due to the founders needing to move on and it’s hard to find people with the right mentality to take over. I’ve seen non-profits founder because without the extra edge of needing to make a profit (and reaping benefits thereof) the good will can vanish.
I’m well aware that people working at a non-profit can draw salaries and that the non-profit moniker has been used in order to attract attention while the ‘workers’ draw insanely large salaries. I guess I’m not comfortable hiding behind the tax benefits of a non-profit while engaged in something that is creating things ‘for profit’.
But let’s run with the current school of thought. That CoWorkingBelfast will be a non-profit organisation.
That said – if I have anything to do with it, CoWorkingBelfast will have to be a shining light and not just a damp squib. I want it to be excellent, a model place to work and not just a set of desks in a dreary room above a bank. It has to make enough money to survive and prosper and not just be a half-empty space which has to resort to arcane marketing schemes disguised as trade shows in order to generate a bit of coin.
Part of the Co-Working Belfast ethos should, in my opinion, to create ‘industry culture’ in Northern Ireland. That’s got to be more than just creating a web portal (and how many of those have sprung up in the last year or so) but the creation of a lasting legacy, a tradition of fostering creativity in the technology sector. CoWorking is not about technology itself – it’s about connecting people where they were not previously connected.
Part of the culture of CoWorking Belfast should not only be the opportunities and connections which are brought about by proximity but also the potential for fostering tomorrow’s industry (you know, the people who will be paying taxes when you and I are in a home for the elderly). I have a plan which consists of nothing more than a couple of pledges, a holding page on a web site and a monthly bill which I’ll work to find sponsorship for – which will be wholly dedicated to finding people with energy, be they young in body or just young in mind, and giving them a place to work and express their creativity as well as providing mentoring (by using and abusing the people housed in the CoWorking building) – more on this later.
Through this meandering post I’m convincing myself that CoWorkingBelfast can be a no-profit. What do you think?
Firstly I work for a limited company, sit on the board of the Scouts which is a voluntary not for profit charity. I also sit on the board of a local charity, which I take no salary and run a not for profit scouting gear website for which I do take a small salary.
What you and the guys are planning to do is fantastic and I really enjoyed chatting through the plans in Charlies the other day, but it is very important to choose the right option from the get go, and the wrong option could result in the death of the project.
Charities can be corrupt, are hard to get money from, have higher insurance and fund it difficult to find funding from government bodies. Last year the Director and Finance Director of Action cancer ‘resigned’ whilst under investigation regarding finance. This press give’s charities a bad name.
Although the scouting movement has a volunteer structure right from the helpers right up through the district managers to the Chief Scout (Peter Duncan of Blue Peter fame) we do understand that some people do need to be employed and as such we do employ administration staff however no director or board member receives a salary.
For me I feel the best road for co-working Belfast is either to Operate a not for profit business whereby an admin person is paid a small amount of money to keep the place ticking over and the rest of the money is put to a good cause, Wireless camp for example.
Or the other way which could be a great way to run it, which would really suit the ethos is a co-op where by everyone involved owns a slice of the business and is involved in the end goal of a cheap – effective working space where ideas and start ups can be born.
Hey MJ, interesting post and thought I would take a minute my 2c.
IMHO the concept of co-working is about collaboration, community and sharing knowledge and insights. The business model you use to achieve this needs to support the community aspect. Basically business or non-profit model and community need to co-exist and support each other.
I recently started a for profit casual work space and private offices in downtown Ottawa, Canada. http://www.thecodefactory.ca The primary driver for the business model was that in order to secure my fitup and furniture loan from the bank the business needed to be for profit.
Is for profit or non-profit a better model probably really depends on what works best for the person or team founding the space. The model you choose should pretty much be transparent to the people using the space *unless it is a coop or the like). I actually have two advisory boards one for the business (looking after all of those business type issues) and a community advisory board that ensures accountability, transparency and adherence to our Mission Vision and Values.
My favorite for profit company is Google and one of their founding principles is “Don’t be evil”. I like Google think they have a great culture, work ethic and are superior innovators.
I firmly believe that a space can use a for profit model and at the same time provide a collaborative environment.